Councilor Morgan Seeking To Ensure Council Hiring Authority

A London city councilor is bringing forward a motion next week in a bid to confirm the balance of power at City Hall.

Ward 7 councilor Josh Morgan’s motion would both specify that the city engineer, Kelly Scherr, be appointed through a by-law at the next council meeting and that current bylaws be amended to make sure that bylaws are required to appoint members of the leadership team. Morgan argues that this would allow council to have a direct relationship with those hired to city leadership positions.

Morgan says he introduced the motion after City Manager Art Zuidema pushed to repeal the by-law requirement about two weeks ago.

“I said, ‘Well, my preference is to appoint our new sitting engineer, Kelly Scherr, by bylaw, why the change?’ Our city manager said that he was looking into it, but [said that] a bylaw might not be necessary anymore,” Morgan told AM980’s The Craig Needles Show.

Morgan noted that having a relationship with the city engineer would be beneficial to council due to their involvement with the water supply — something that, if affected, could mean jail time for councilors.

“There’s discussion on whether this is necessary or not and the only way to be definitive on this, and the only way council can speak, is by motions through committees,” Morgan said.

Morgan’s motion is up for debate at the Corporate Services Committee meeting next Tuesday.